USAID Promote Musharikat Project Quarterly Report Q3 FY 2016

The project, awarded on September 2, 2015, has a five-year duration and a budget of $29.5 million. The project's objectives are to build constituencies among national, provincial, and local activists and civil society organizations focused on promoting women's equality and empowerment, strengthen advocacy for women's equality and empowerment, increase awareness of and support for women's rights in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan, and increase the effectiveness of civil society and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the development and implementation of gender policies. To achieve these objectives, the project will work with more than 50 civil society organizations and 5,000 activists across all 34 provinces to choose, prioritize, and address the most critical issues that limit women's full participation in Afghan society. The project will employ inclusive, transparent, and competitive processes through which civil society organizations and activists will be brought together to form coalitions, each designed to tackle a priority concern as determined by Afghan women. Led by Afghan civil society representatives, these issues-based coalitions will engage with a wide set of stakeholders to help advance their goals. During the first quarter of 2016, the project achieved several milestones. The last in a series of regional consultative forums was conducted in the Central Region, where 21 CSO representatives and 25 individual activists worked together to discuss and prioritize the key challenges that limit women's ability to exercise their rights and fully participate in Afghan society. The project also delivered a series of two-day Pre-Summit Delegate orientation and Training Sessions in each of the five regions, where participants from every province gathered to discuss and vote on the three most critical issues facing women in their region for submission to the National Summit. The project successfully delivered the Promote Musharikat National Summit in Kabul on May 8 to 10, where 223 women activists and CSO representatives from 33 of the 34 provinces decided the final set of highest priority issues, formed coalitions, and developed initial action plans to tackle these key challenges. The summit also saw the launch of the Musharikat Mobile Platform, which will enable the project to communicate with summit delegates and members of the first three Musharikat Coalitions. In addition to these achievements, the project also convened a legislative Process and Advocacy Training for Issue-Based Coalitions interim leadership and Musharikat technical staff at the Afghanistan Parliamentary Institute in Kabul. The training was attended by all Regional Directors, who have since delivered the training to their team in their respective regional office. The project team also participated in an all-staff DAI Field Procurement Training session in Kabul from May 29th to June 1st. The project's geographic focus is on all 34 provinces in Afghanistan, and its implementation details include working with more than 50 civil society organizations and 5,000 activists across the country. The project's timeframes are from September 2015 to September 2020, and its recommendations include the need for continued support for women's empowerment and inclusion in Afghan society.